03/20/24
8 Reviews, 8 Favs, 8 Follows
Adrien and Marinette came to visit an old friend who raised them when they were orphan kids. Even gave them a proper school education for Miss Bustier to help them grow and learn like teenagers.
"Ah, our favorite mentor and guardian who raised us well," Marinette said as they entered the Chinese shop.
"Welcome Adrien and Marinette," Said the old man.
"Ni-hao, Master Fu. It's been so long" Adrien said before removing his mask, "Meow, you sure love to make this like your home country" He saw the decoration of Chinese culture.
"Indeed Adrien" Master Fu replied.
"It's so good to see you, Master. My kitty and I are still witch-hunting as always. Not the life we chose but still great at not being dead or killed" Marinette said.
"Life has mysteries for the both of you," Master Fu said, offering them herbal tea.
"Yeah, after all these years I often think about the day Adrien and I first met," Marinette said.
"And becoming a kitty cat with 10 lives. Nine lives plus a human life" Adrien chuckled.
"Heh, Good one Adrien" Master Fu smiled.
"So what have you been up to, Master?" Marinette sips her tea.
"Nothing much, But I have seen how the people are mesmerized by this Lila" Master Fu said.
"That's what is bothering us, Master. Everyone is like forgetting to worry about the missing children. It's never happened like that" Adrien said, lapping his tea like a cat.
"That worries me. This is no ordinary performance" Master Fu said.
"So this is definitely something else. So far I had Adrien inspect her by talking and it seems as though she nearly played his hopes of becoming human" Marinette said.
"She gave off some mysterious vibes. Like she tried to manipulate me into joining her. And from her scent, she's wearing a disguise" Adrien said.
"A wig I'm guessing that has no dandruff or dead skin cells" Master Fu guessed.
"Yes, that's right" Adrien nodded.
"Besides her vibes, did you sense she's a witch or not?" Master Fu asked.
"We don't know. I mean we faced rare witches that can look normal" Marinette said.
"Then I suggest you two better keep an eye out on her" Master Fu said.
"Without getting tricked this time," Adrien said.
"We'll do our best," Marinette said.
"You two still do good deeds in saving children from dark witches. I fear as though this is just beyond their evil nature" Master Fu said.
"Apparently," Adrien said.
"Have you noticed these witches take one child but not the other from the family?" Master Fu said.
"Yeah, it's as if a child from their siblings are far special. But so many of them?" Marinette said.
"So far they have taken 11. Let me ask you, how many months are there in one year?" Master Fu asked.
"Twelve" Marinette replied.
"And how many numbers in a clock?" He asked again.
"Twelve too," Marinette said.
"And what is the number for day and night?" He asked again.
"Twelve. As they say 24 hours a day, 7 days means a week" Adrien said.
"That's right," Master Fu said.
"Wait. Let's look over the files" Marinette took out the files of missing children, "We need to count them"
They looked at all the children's info, noticing there were six boys and 5 girls which meant the witches needed another girl.
"They need another girl. And 12 months means their birth month. They need a child born in…..August. There's no August in missing children born in August" Adrien said.
"This is beyond new, kitty. It's not about their desires to fatten children by forcing them to eat candy, it's something we don't know" Marinette said.
"Like a ritual?" Adrien guessed.
"It's a possibility. Every witch has a sabbath to perform rituals, dark rituals, and sacrifices" Master Fu said.
"No good" Marinette said.
"We are definitely gonna need more evidence. Deeper evidence we cannot see or understand" Adrien said.
"Ask yourself, when did everyone stop worrying desperately about the missing children?" Master Fu asked.
"When Lila appeared," Adrien said.
"Yes, that's where it started" Master Fu pointed out.
"So Lila is our lead," Adrien said.
"And you have to do the same as last time," Marinette said.
"Are you kidding me?! She's like…..I don't know! Persuasive to play my conscience! Manipulative to play with my choices that will end up into wrong choices!" Adrien said with too much frustration, it was making his tail flick with anger.
"Relax! Don't try to fall into it, Kitty" Marinette pleaded.
"You think it's easy when an actress is an actress to act and pretend to make their performance feel real?" Adrien said.
"Of course not," Marinette said.
"You see me as a partial Werecat that is real?" Adrien said.
"Yeah, but never fully," Marinette said.
"You saw I got cursed by a witch as a kid, was that real?" Adrien asked.
"Of course Adrien. I'm not hallucinating" Marinette said.
"And I'm not gonna let her make me go to hell for this!" Adrien crossed his arms.
"We are still in hell, kitty. Witches always want us dead and they haven't killed us yet. Don't tell me you're a scaredy cat now. You're never scared of anything" Marinette smirked smugly.
"I'm not!" Adrien said.
"Kitty" Marinette said seriously.
"Okay, fine. I am scared to get influenced by someone to play with my feelings, my hopes, my dignity, my pissed-off face" Adrien confessed.
"Are you two done arguing?" Master Fu asked.
"Master, this is like a real living nightmare of hell. We can't just jump in and accuse an actress without facts or evidence" Adrien said.
"You two better work together and work up a plan" Master Fu replied.
"I did make a plan. Him to be in Lila's head" Marinette said.
"I'm not doing that again. No way you're changing my—Meow!" Adrien saw fish in her hands.
"Want this, Kitty?" Marinette teased.
"Meow" Adrien can't resist his cravings for fish.
"Let's get the plan into motion," Marinette said, putting on a red mask with black dots.
"Give me the damn fish, please! My tongue is becoming sandpaper whenever I see fish and mice to eat!" Adrien begged.
"Here you go" Marinette gave it to him.
"Do you seriously have to torture my emotional needs just because I'm a cat?" Adrien munched on the fish.
"The only way to get your inner beast to behave like a good kitty" Marinette grinned.
"Oh, the indignity" Adrien sighs.
x
Later after Lila's 'amazing' performance at the theater, she hoped Chloe wouldn't do anything foolish to spill out everything. She's not the smartest whenever her resentment gets the better of her. But she had her stinger weapon ready if she saw Adrien. After putting on her red-brown wig to be Lila, she saw Adrien talking to street cats as if they could understand him like the master of felines.
"What is he doing?" She got curious.
"Remember, my kitties. Not all dogs are evil. Always see the good in them as they see the good in you" Adrien said before meowing at them.
One cat walked up to him and nuzzled his leg. Lila hated animals, especially conceited and friendly cats.
"Good kitties" Adrien pets them.
"Ah, you can talk to cats? I used to love cats as a kid" Lila made a lie.
"So you do? Well, I have been with them for years" Adrien played his act.
"Oh, very nice. Even though they cough furballs" Lila said
"I don't. Not all cats cough a hairball themselves. They eat grass to help spit out hairballs" Adrien said.
"You seem to know about them," Lila said.
"I talk to them and they can understand me," Adrien said.
One cat with green eyes appeared and it hissed at Lila since cats can sense who is friendly and who is not.
"I don't think they like you" Adrien picked him up to calm him down, "Easy. Some street cats don't like to be petted or tamed. They get very aggressive if you try to provoke them"
"Really?" Lila replied.
Unknown to her, Marinette was spying on them, gathering information on Lila's nature. She made sure nobody saw her. Judging the actress's conversation with Adrien, it was difficult to tell between acting and lying. But she did notice whenever Lila lied, her tone changed.
"Definitely a liar than acting," Marinette said.
"I work alone with my lady. We once did give Chloe a try but she was not capable of listening to us. All she cares about is being adored by everyone. That's why she's so peeved at us" Adrien explained the story of why Chloe was not worthy to be a witch hunter because she's not careful and would easily get killed by one.
"Too bad about Chloe," Lila said.
"I hoped she could change but for years she never did. I don't like people like her treating innocent people like doormats. Zoe is nicer and understands the values of life, whereas Chloe does not. Ignoring the consequences without feeling remorse or shame is like adding more chains as punishment to get heavier" Adrien said before leaving, not wanting to have his inner rage of a cat to scratch her face.
Marinette was relieved it was over.
x
At their place, Marinette knew that her kitty would get a hissy fit so she had to let him so he could feel completely calm. She could hear him hiss and growl.
"Kitty, calm down," She said.
"That Lila is never honest about anything" Adrien breathes heavily.
"You can smell her lies?" Marinette asked while petting him, even his tail since it's covered in fur.
"Yes, I could tell that she never liked cats," Adrien said.
"I saw the regular cat hissing," Marinette said.
"He sensed that she's a threat," Adrien said.
"Streets cats don't always trust anyone" Marinette hands him a glass of milk.
"Neither do I" He drank his milk.
"I'll go the next time, but this time spying on her," Marinette said.
"No! It's gonna get very ugly!" Adrien exclaimed.
"We dealt with ugly witches all the time, Adrien," Marinette said.
"Well, this one is much uglier as hell. No way in hell I'm letting you do what I did" Adrien finished his milk.
"Fine then" Marinette gave up.
"I just don't want her to influence you," Adrien said.
"I understand, kitty," Marinette said.